​Rev. Scott Tayler

Team Lead and Founder of Soul Matters

Rev. Tayler has served as a parish minister and denominational leader for 20 years. For nine years, he was the Co-Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, New York with his wife Rev. Kaaren Anderson. During his tenure, First Unitarian grew to the 4th largest church in our UUA. Rev. Tayler credits small group ministry, theme-based church and the Soul Matters model with this growth. Midway through his time at First Unitarian Rochester, Rev. Tayler shepherded the process of "yoking" First Unitarian with the UU Church of Canandaigua, New York, a nearby UU congregation of 60 members. Rev. Tayler helped create numerous systems of shared staffing, programming and leadership training that enabled the two congregations to have more robust ministries than either could have achieved on their own. In 2013, Rev. Tayler left the parish to serve as the Director of Congregational Life at our UUA, overseeing the staff of the five UU regions across the country. During this time, he focused on congregational partnerships and entrepreneurial ministry. He now serves as the Team Lead of Soul Matters and consults with congregations and secular organizations across the country.

Rev. Tayler brings this background in congregational growth, partnerships and innovative programming to Soul Matters, both as the Team Lead and in making himself available to Soul Matters subscribers as a consultant.

Speaking about his passion and gratitude for Soul Matters, Rev. Tayler writes,

”It’s been a great gift to watch Soul Matters grow over the years. What began as a bunch of seminary and preaching buddies supporting each other has organically become a means for true congregational interdependence. Soul Matters is so much more than a set of services; it’s a network of healing and inspiring relationships. Ultimately, Soul Matters is about healing spiritual disconnection. It mends the divides between and within congregations. It’s grace in action and the interdependent web become real. What a privilege to be a part of that!”